Foreign funding rules to "affect" Indian NGOs working on human rights, policy, governance, electoral reforms

India’s civil society organizations have strongly objected to the new Foreign Contribution Regulation (FRC) Rules notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which require the NGOs to give an "affirmation" that they are not used the foreign contribution for activities that are likely to “prejudicially affect” the sovereignty and integrity of the country, the security, strategic, scientific and economic interests of the state and the public interest.

Circulating a note written by a senior activist for perusal and comments to NGOs receiving foreign contribution, Subhash Mittal, secretary, Socio-Research Reform Foundation, a Delhi-based NGO, says, “Many organizations which work on, says, human rights, legal rights, policy, governance, electoral reforms related issues, may face interpretation issues.”
However, he adds, the “organizations who are working on clear cut issues (say health, water, development, etc.), such interpretation may not pose problem.”
This undertaking is part of the new form FC-4, which must for submitting annual statement of receipt and utilization of foreign contribution, which NGOs receive for their developmental activities.
Pointing out that this is a “new ground” introduced in the rules, the note says, “The earlier form, or even in the draft form circulated earlier, specified which activities NGOs cannot indulge in, such as those that ‘prejudicially affect’ the freedom or fairness of elections to any legislature, friendly relations with foreign State and harmony between religious, racial, social, linguistic, regional groups, castes or communities.”
Comments this note, authored one of the senior-most activists, Venkatesh Nayak of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), “So the combined effect of these elements of the new Form FC-4 is that there is little clarity about the specific activities for which FC can be received and used.”
The activist says, “Enormous discretion is placed in the hands of the government to determine whether or not a foreign funded NGO's activities must be curbed by suspending and eventually taking away its FC registration or prior permission.”
The activist underlines, “The grounds of affirmation are so overbroad that all national and international advocacy and mobilisational activities of NGOs will come under the government's scanner and become potential ground for taking away the FCR registration.”
In another objection, the note says, the new rules require that all plain paper applications for FCR Act processes have been done away with. “This may cause a major problem for NGOs working in remote areas without access to high speed internet connections”, the note says.
There are, for instance, many parts of Jammu and Kashmir, “which cannot access even 2G Internet speed on many days of any month even though some service providers boast about providing 3G speed and services. The same could be true of several other States, which are just about opening up to the Internet.”
Also objecting to all payments under the FCR Act-related services to be made only through electronic payment gateway specified by the Government of India, the note says, “So now NGOs will have to make one of their functionaries to use his/her personal credit/debit card.”
This is particularly strange, as “banks do not issue credit or debit cards in the names of NGOs. Or, NGOs will have to make use of net banking for making these payments. So NGOs will have to authorise their functionaries to operate net banking for making these payments”, the note says.

---

Click HERE to download the new FCR Rules

Comments

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Search This Blog